Penguins Prime For Jackets

The Penguins lost, 3-2 in a shootout, to the Ottawa Senators tonight in Consol Energy Center.

It was an utterly meaningless game, one played with the sharpness of a butter knife.

There are issues the Penguins will deal with before opening a first-round series against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday, but the aftereffect of tonight’s loss won’t be one of them. It was mostly an opportunity for coach Dan Bylsma to take rest some regulars and test some young forwards who might bolster a suspect bottom six.

“We’ve talked about different opponents and what our lineup might look like (against) different opponents,” Bylsma said. “We know with a Columbus team, we may be looking to have a more rounded third and fourth lines.

“Adding speed and having the ability to maybe score with our third and fourth lines is a factor when looking at that matchup. We have two days here. We’ll see who can get healthy and who can be in that mix.”

Malkin, Vitale and Conner skated this morning. Bylsma was mum on their status for Game 1 – he provided no updates before or after the game – but signs are encouraging.

Fleury: “We should be healthy…coming into the playoffs. We should be in good shape.”

Forward Jussi Jokinen: “It looks like we’re going to get the majority of our players back for Wednesday so that’s huge.”

That’s not overstating it.

The Penguins (52-24-7) finished the season with 529 man-games lost to injury, nearly 6.5 per game on average. Yet they earned their 109th point tonight, second-most in team history. Presidents' Trophy winner Boston (117 points) was the only Eastern Conference team with more.

“We’ve had a very good team in a lot of different ways,” Bylsma said. “But finding ways to win – we’ve done with our special teams, with plugging different guys in. Our goaltender (Fleury) has been outstanding for us. We’ve found ways to win.”

Considering the injuries, it has been a remarkable season for the Penguins, who have finished first or second in their division in every season since 2006-07 and qualified for the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.

But, as has become each spring in Steel City, there is an elephant that stampedes through the Pens’ dressing room. Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, the Penguins have sputtered in the playoffs. They exited in the second round in 2010 and the first round in 2011 and 2012.

Pittsburgh finished atop the East last season but was swept by Boston in the conference final. Fleury, so solid in the regular season, was replaced by Tomas Vokoun during the first round and did not start another postseason game.

“Experience,” Fleury said when asked what made this season’s team better than those prior. “I think we can learn from what happened in previous seasons, what we were missing and what we were lacking. I think we’re a little more aware of what we have to do.”

Side dishes

--Zatkoff, a Miami University RedHawk for three seasons, saved 31 of 33 shots tonight but was beaten by Kyle Turris and Jason Spezza in the shootout.

--Jokinen and Lee Stempniak scored for the Penguins in regulation. Turris and Mark Stone scored for the Senators.

--The Penguins are expected to be off on Monday and return to practice on Tuesday in Consol Energy Center.

--Crosby won the Art Ross by 17 points over Ryan Getzlaf, the largest margin since Jaromir Jagr in 1998-99. It was Crosby's second Art Ross (his first since '06-07) and the 15th time in 26 years that a Penguin won the award. Mario Lemieux won it six times, Jagr five times, Crosby twice and Malkin twice. "I’m not sure we know how fortunate we have been to have leading scorers and MVPs here in Pittsburgh for a long time," Bylsma said.

--The Ticketmaster page for Wednesday’s series opener wouldn’t load for me tonight, but there are plenty of seats available for Game 2 on Saturday. Words of warning: They ain’t cheap.

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